


Don’t Crush This Paper AirPlane

by azu1as



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: ((no beta we die like zhao)), Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Attempt at Humor, Bodyswap, Crack Treated Seriously, Family, Friendship, Gen, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, dumb atla fanfic ideas, time wibbly wobbly body swap au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-05
Updated: 2020-08-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:40:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25725253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azu1as/pseuds/azu1as
Summary: “Don’t approach the time-meddling spirit,” warned the village elder.Unfortunately, said spirit didn’t seem to get the memo and approached them instead.((in which the Gaang is thrown back in time and into each other’s bodies.))
Comments: 42
Kudos: 517





	Don’t Crush This Paper AirPlane

###

In hindsight, stubbornly chasing after a powerful spirit despite the locals’ warnings was a bad idea. Contrary to usual belief, time travel wasn’t entirely impossible to comprehend—perks of being friends with the Avatar, Toph supposed. 

Although the body switch did come as a surprise.

It was a good thing they’ve been through worst.

###

“Don’t approach the time-meddling spirit,” warned the village elder.

But unfortunately, it seemed that luck wasn’t on the Gaang’s side that day as said spirit decided to approach them instead.

One moment, they were all walking towards an empty, open field. Then, in the next, Toph’s feet were suddenly lifted off the ground.

She quickly stretched out a hand, but only ended up grasping at air when she  _knew_ that Aang stood there at that very spot less than seconds ago. She bit back a wave of panic as everything around her seemed to melt into non-existence.

But as soon as the strange sort of suspension limbo appeared, it left.

And in its absence came an assault of dizzying sensations. Strange-looking spots and shapes kept shifting around in lieu of the usual darkness that surrounded Toph. Alarm bells rang in her head.

She mistakenly turned her head directly towards a swaying and flickering blob. She flinched back and palmed her closed eyes. It felt as if dirt got into them, only instead of the sharp sting, this left more of a warm throb behind her eyes.

The feeling was similar to the one she gets when she looked up at the sun. But Toph had barely tilted her head upwards, so unless the sun decided to stand in front of her then—

_Was this...was this what you called sight?_

“No wonder people act so grumpy.” Toph muttered. “This feels like  _shit_ .”

Toph felt a bit off-kilter, acutely aware of her lack of earthsense. She knew her knees were touching the ground, but no matter how hard she concentrated, she couldn’t sense a damn thing—and the throbbing that had yet to reside did nothing, but increase her frustration.

“ _Rise and fight, Prince Zuko._ _”_

A curl of irritation made its way around Toph’s stomach at the familiar, booming voice. Her face twisted and she snarled out, “Can’t you, like, just _shut up_ for one second.”

The background noise snapped into stunned silence. She’s pretty sure she heard a sharp inhale off to her side. But she ignored it in favor of trying to bend the slab of rock underneath her. And yet, nothing. 

“You,” the same voice growled out, “would dare disrespect— “

Toph masterfully tuned out the rest of the guy’s ramblings. 

((She could easily name someone who had more flair reenacting all those monologues from his beloved play scrolls. Yeah, Zuko wasn’t as subtle at hiding that particular hobby from them as he’d like to think.))

After huffing at her failure to lift even a single speck of dirt, Toph attempted to peek through one eye and—yeah, nope. She’d rather stick with darkness, thank you very much. Why sighted people would willingly choose to open their eyes, Toph didn’t have a clue. She was mildly disappointed that sight didn’t live up to her expectations, but whatever.

Toph refocused on the voice (who was _still_ going on about disrespect) and tried to place where she last heard it. The guy probably wasn’t that important if— _oh_.

Toph straightened up and slammed a fist on an open palm, beaming in satisfaction. “You're the Phoenix King of getting his butt whooped!" She exclaimed, which, in hindsight, wasn't perhaps the most tactful thing to say.

If the hall (and they must be in a hall, Toph thought, listening to how her voice bounced around) was already taut with tension before, it was nothing compared to the tension now. Toph didn’t need to see to know that whoever these people were, they were staring at the proceedings in horror, all holding a collective, bated breath.

There was a pause before the Phoenix King spoke, his voice colder than ever. "Once again, have you not an ounce of respect, Prince Zuko? Is this Agni Kai nothing but a joke to you?" Anger was laced so thoroughly in his voice that Toph was sure he would die choking it if it were a physical object in his throat.

“Did you just call me Zuko?” Toph asked in confusion. “Wait. _Am_ I Zuko?” She turned her head towards someone beside her. “I’m Zuko, right? The best Firelord this nation has ever seen? _That_ Zuko?”

“Uh?” Was the response she got.

Toph turned away and reached up, patting down her hair. The ponytail was new. She swayed her head left and right at the weird weight.

Geez. Just how badly did the spirit mess with them? 

((“W-What is he  _doing_ ?” A general whispered, staring at the young prince as he continually swung his head back and forth.

“I think...he just declared himself...Firelord.”

“Agni, he’s actually trying to usurp his father’s throne.”))

Toph stopped moving her head. She tilted her head in the direction of the last voice. “You know,” she started, a half-baked plan forming in her mind that would surely have Sokka screaming. “That’s not a bad idea.”

((Ozai growled, knowing that something was amiss. He didn’t know where Zuko’s sudden surge of confidence came from, but it was certainly a far-cry from the boy who had fallen to his knees the moment he saw his opponent.)

_If I’m in Zuko’s body...does that mean I can firebend?_

Anticipation buzzed in her bones as Toph pushed herself up to her feet and shifted into her usual earthbending stance that felt unfamiliar in this body. Earth didn't beckon to her call as it usually would've but, in its stead, she finally noticed the strange warmth that fluttered around her finger tips. 

She gave it a tug and a ghost-like sensation hovered at the top of her palms.

She hummed contemplatively. That was easier than expected. It wasn't the solid feel of her natural element, but she's 'watched' enough of Zuko's sparring sessions with the rest of the Gaang to pick up a couple of basic movements.

Obviously, she’ll have to rely on her hearing. It actually kind of reminded her of her early days with the badgermoles.

She was pretty sure she could make it work.

_Aang and Zuko went too soft on this huge jerkface_ , Toph thought. It only seemed fair to fix that.

"You know," she licked her lips and pasted on the scary smile Katara said she should stop using because it ‘intimidated’ (“ _Just say ‘it makes them shit their pants, Sugar Queen._ ”) those stupid war generals. "I've always wanted to try doing this.”

###

And if all else fails, Toph was never someone who said no to fighting dirty as she not-so-inconspicuously picked up a handful of dirt from the ground.

###

Rumors of Firelord Ozai’s first son usurping his throne spread like an uncontrolled forest fire. The entire city of Caldera buzzed with an energy imbued with anticipation, fear, awe, and, most prominently, confusion.

“ _I heard that the Fire Prince fought his father with his eyes_ closed.”

“ _Oh, don’t be ridiculous._ _”_

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to post something despite how rusty my writing is ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> I consider this my fanfiction test run. It’s been years since I last posted something, so I still need to get the swing of things.
> 
> But hurray!! At least this is SOMETHING right HAHAHAHA
> 
> Link to the [dumb atla fanfic idea](https://azu1as.tumblr.com/post/619244035482238977/dumb-atla-fanfic-idea-another-time-travel-au-but)


End file.
